So let’s take a quick break from the makeup, and start with a visual.
Over the past few years I’ve lost 47 pounds. At my heaviest recorded weight, I was 196 pounds and as of writing this I’m 149. My current “ultimate” goal weight is 140 pounds before I re-assess what I want to look like, or what kind of condition I want my body to be in. (For reference, I’m 5″3″.)
For me, it wasn’t looking at pictures that did me in. It was standing on the scale one Christmas break at my parents’ place when I read 196 pounds on the screen. I couldn’t believe it. I had an inkling I was “heavier” but since I hadn’t weighed myself in probably 5 years, I had no real concept as to what “heavier” was. I’ve never been small by anyone’s definition: I have football player shoulders and I usually have a decent combination of fat and muscle on my body. Throughout high school I was “thick”. Not fat, not slender, but just… thick. At the time, I was figure skating about 4-5 days a week, 3 hours each session. I also played soccer on my high school and competitive city teams. As a result, I could eat pretty much whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. At a guess, I was around 140-150 pounds at this stage in my life.
This became a problem when I quit figure skating at age 17. Suddenly I was no longer able to absorb the calories I was downing, and yet my appetite was still voracious. I was still playing soccer, but since that was seasonal (April till November), it wasn’t enough of a calorie sink. By the time I started university at 19, I was about 165 pounds. I promptly gained the “Freshman Fifteen” by eating cafeteria food day in and day out as a result of living on campus with a meal card. I returned home after my first year of university weighing 175 pounds. I lost about 10 pounds that summer, but put it all right back on during my next year of school.
By the time I finished university, to right before I got married, I somehow managed to pack on another 20 pounds or so. I was still playing soccer, but over time I was becoming less and less active as I was playing more and more World of Warcraft. It was at this point that I decided weight loss was a requirement since I didn’t want to see 200+ pounds on the scale.
Since I was still somewhat active, it became a matter of watching what I ate. The first 20 or so pounds came off predominantly from cutting down portions (No, I didn’t need that second burrito!), however I also picked up running during this time. The best thing I ever did was pick up a Nike+ foot pod and sensor for my iPod. Tracking and monitoring my runs was hugely motivational. It also showed me that I couldn’t run nearly as long or as far as I thought I could and so that became even more incentive. We started out running 1 or 2 kilometers and eventually built it up. Finally hitting 5k was a relief as that’s what I felt I should’ve been doing all along.
I’d say it took about 10 months or so to lose 20 pounds. That doesn’t sound like a very fast loss rate, but I was happy with it and it was sustained loss too. I would occasionally vary up and down 5 pounds if I wasn’t careful with what I ate but never any more than that.
About a year into my exercise and weightloss routine, I stumbled across My Fitness Pal. Previously, my wonderful husband had been keeping track of all my calories, but it was time consuming and a bit of a hassle. My Fitness Pal was life changing. I’ve been logging calories on that bad boy for about two years now and it never gets old – heck, it’s even kind of fun! Feel free to add me on MFP – my user name is Nikachelle.
Over the last year or so I’ve dropped another 25 pounds, and am pretty pleased with how I’m doing. I never actually thought hitting 150 pounds was a reasonable goal, and now I’m shooting for an even lower weight! As I continue towards my goal weight (140 lbs.), I’ve been keeping up with my running and have added gymnastics and weight training to the mix while continuing to play soccer. I’ll have regular updates on my exercise plans and my progress as it happens. Thanks for reading!